


I'm Missing Half of Me When We're Apart

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, M/M, briana is mentioned in passing, lilo is really friendship, perrie is mentioned in passing, zayn is mentioned in passing - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 10:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6150400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The older lad just nods without properly looking and they step inside together. Looking around, Louis can at least piece together that Liam had picked out a baby store and that made the pain in his chest loosen slightly. There were aisles and aisles of toys and clothes to search through and Louis could see himself losing four of five hours in this store alone. The tug on his hand pulled him towards a small sports section and Louis knew that Liam could tell this was just what he needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Missing Half of Me When We're Apart

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a song by One Direction that is included in the Freddie Tommo Playlist on Spotify. The playlist was created by TheQuietQuill here on Ao3 or SnapbackLilo on Tumblr. Everything is linked below:
> 
> Tumblr: http://snapbacklilo.tumblr.com/  
> Ao3: http://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQuietQuill/pseuds/TheQuietQuill  
> Playlist: https://play.spotify.com/user/1249584412/playlist/7HUo6ZlsxBggVYdEXWgX4w

It’s days like this one that Louis really has come to hate. He knew the joint custody would be tough, but on days where Briana has Freddie exclusively it hurts more than he thought possible. He knows that Briana will keep his son safe and nothing will happen to him if she can help it, but it’s just so hard. He wants to be with his son all day, every day.

Liam had flown to LA to help him out and to meet his godson so the two of them were hitting the town on the days of no baby duty to try and keep themselves busy. “Louis, want to hit up this shop?”

The older lad just nods without properly looking and they step inside together. Looking around, Louis can at least piece together that Liam had picked out a baby store and that made the pain in his chest loosen slightly. There were aisles and aisles of toys and clothes to search through and Louis could see himself losing four of five hours in this store alone. The tug on his hand pulled him towards a small sports section and Louis knew that Liam could tell this was just what he needed.

There were baseball and football jerseys to choose from as well as onesies designed to look like the ball of choice. There were ones with funny sports sayings and cute designs of babies crawling after balls and Louis wanted to buy them all. Knowing that his son would grow up in America and probably know next to nothing about European football, he decided that he needed to buy all of the footie shirts they had so he could see his son wearing something football related at least once. “Do you think Donny has baby jerseys I could order and have sent here?”

“Mate, you’re on the team. I’m sure that if you wanted a baby jersey then the team would special make one for your son.” Liam says with a laugh as he looks over at the hats that he could potentially buy for freddie. “Do you want him to be a proper lad? Skinny jeans and vests, then?”

Louis rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Maybe later. Right now, he needs to stay really warm. Maybe another little beanie would be good for him. He’s got a lot of stripes too- I tried to veto stripes, but Briana’s mother really just loved the nautical theme.” He’s rambling as he picks up a few onesies and puts them into the basket that Liam had picked up as they walked in.

They spend the next two hours wandering around the store aimlessly and filling their little basket. Louis knew that the nursery in Briana’s home was nautical themed so he had intentionally made the one in his small flat jungle themed so that he didn’t have to deal with the stripes and boats. They found a huge stuffed tiger animal and Louis couldn’t resist buying the overpriced toy for his son. After all, Freddie deserved the world.

On all of the clothes and unnecessary toys, Louis only spent about one seventy five dollars so he wasn’t all that worried. Liam though had spent a good amount with a total of about five hundred dollars. Louis told him that is wasn’t necessary, but Liam had merely smiled knowingly and put Louis’ address down where the new bookshelf and toy chest could be delivered. There was something else that Liam had bought, but he refused to show Louis what exactly that purchase was.

\------------

“Come on, lad. It’ll be okay. Daddy’s here.” Louis tried to calm his son and get the wails to quiet. It was the first time where Briana let Louis keep his bundle of joy overnight and he was so hopeful that everything would go alright.

Liam shuffled into the room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “What time is it, mate?”

“Three thirty in the morning,” Louis responded quietly. “I didn’t mean for him to wake you. I can put you up in a hotel if you want to actually sleep.” He sighs as he feels Freddie wet his nappy and the cries subsided. He carries the three week old over to the changing table and sets about doing his job of cleaning his son up.

“I’m here to help you. Getting woken up in the early morning is nothing new, but at least this cutie doesn’t want me to scream lyrics at this ungodly hour.” Liam waits until Louis has finished changing the boy’s nappy before picking him up and holding him close to his chest. Freddie starts to squirm in his arms, whines becoming louder the longer Liam held him.

Taking his son back from Liam, Louis manages to get the whines to die down to tiny sniffles before he smiles over at Liam. “Do you want to help me sing him to sleep? Briana hates that I do that since she refuses to sing and she’s worried that he’ll become too used to it, but…”

“You know that you two will figure this whole custody thing out, right? Briana has already told you that she isn’t really interested in taking care of Freddie. At this point, it’s getting around her mother.” Liam strokes at the baby’s back lightly, just wanting to feel close to the small lad. 

Louis shrugs, but smiles softly. “Let’s just get him to sleep. Then maybe we can bundle up in a bunch of blankets and cuddle?”

“Anything for you, Lou.”

\------------

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” Louis says softly as he looks into the crib where his son is sleeping peacefully. He doesn’t want to have to wake his son for this, but Liam’s convinced him that this would be fun. “Isn’t photoshoots with a newborn more of like a mother’s fun?”

“Lou, he won’t be this small forever. Don’t you want pictures of him and you together before he grows up? It’ll be fun. Besides, these are for you and only you. No one has to see them unless you want them to- not even Briana.” Liam says as he tries to find the perfect lighting he wants for the pictures.

Louis sighs, but nods as he goes to wrap Freddie up in his arms. “I guess mum would love some new pictures. She’s been bugging me about bringing him to Doncaster, but I don’t know if I’m allowed to. I definitely want him to know England as home too.”

Freddie stirs in Louis’ arms and blinks awake before yawning. He stares up at his father and makes some sort of unintelligible noise before smiling up at Louis.

“He’s perfect you know. He looks just like you and everything. I’m sure he’ll have the Tomlinson charm and get all the ladies.” Liam smiles softly over at father and son before snapping a picture of the two with his cell phone. “Now come on. Let’s get this done so we can watch a movie and I can hold the baby.”

Louis laughs, but grabs a blanket to wrap around his son so he wouldn’t get cold. “Maybe only take a few. He’s already getting a little fussy.”

\------------

Twenty minutes later, Liam is on the couch holding Freddie and cooing quietly to the small boy. “Daddy went to make you a bottle. Bet that’s what you want, yeah? You’re just hungry, aren’t you? Want to know a secret? Daddy gets fussy when he’s hungry too.”

“You corrupting my son against me already, Payno?” Louis comes into the living room with a huge smile on his face and holding a bottle of formula. “You better be careful. Niall is already looking like a great godfather replacement choice.”

Liam can only laugh as Louis sits down. He shifts Freddie into his father’s arms and watches as his best friend slips so easily into the role of loving father. “It’s crazy to think that you’re a father. Honestly, I was expecting Zayn to be the first to have a kid. We all know how he liked to…” He trails off and waves his hand around to get his point across.

Louis huffs at the mention of his old friend, but refuses to comment. “I’ve been talking to Perrie lately. She wants to come and meet Freddie.”

“I think that’d be great. She’d be lovely with him.” Liam says taking the bait to change the subject.

Freddie pulls back from the bottle and starts to fidget before crying and letting loud wails pierce the air.

Liam frowns before looking over at Louis. The two smile at each other before starting to sing together. _“If I could fly, I'd be coming right back home to you. I think I might give up everything, just ask me to. Pay attention, I hope that you listen cause I let my guard down; right now I'm completely defenseless.”_


End file.
